𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑊𝑜𝑚𝑎𝑛 𝑖𝑛 𝑅𝑒𝑑 | 𝐴 𝑀𝑎𝑟𝑙𝑖𝑧𝑎 𝐹𝐹

𝐶ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑆𝑖𝑥

Over the next couple of months, Maria became a regular at the coffee shop. Eliza had her order memorized, and they somewhat became friends. Well, friends wasn't the right word, they were more like... acquaintances. Yeah, that was the word for it. They knew each other by name, smiled at each other, and talked everyone once and a while, but that was about it.

However, Eliza didn't mind that. She liked getting to see Maria, and soon found herself looking forward to seeing the woman walk through the door everyday.

She had realized that Maria started looking healthier as time went by, as if she was finally getting what she needed. Maria also started paying more attention to Eliza, and over time she actually found the girl quite cute. She thought the way Eliza stuttered while talking to her was cute, and talking to her was always entertaining.

One day, Maria had gotten and up gotten dressed, and was on her way to the coffee shop when she realized she forgot her jacket. The bruises from James had long faded, but she still preferred to wear a jacket because there were several scares on her arms from the man.

Sighing, she just decided to go without it, being as she had already walked almost all the way to the coffee shop. Opening the door, she smiled when she saw Eliza standing behind the counter.

——

Eliza had gone into work that morning, and was busying herself with organizing cups when she heard the door open. She turned around and saw Maria walk in, and stood there in awe. She was wearing a dark red tank top and a pair of black jeans, along with a pair of black combat boots. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and her makeup wasn't too dark.

In Eliza's eyes, she looked absolutely perfect.

She smiled at Maria, and watched as she walked closer. Just as Eliza was about to ask Maria if she wanted her usual, she saw it. The small letters on the woman's shoulder.

Staring in shock as Maria approached, Eliza tried to make sure she was seeing right. On Maria's right shoulder, there was two letters. Small and dark, they looked just like the ones Eliza had. There was no mistaking them, they were her soulmates initials.

What stunned Eliza however, was what exactly the letters were. Right there in plain sight, Eliza saw them clearly. There was no question, written on Maria's shoulder were the letters E and S. Eliza blinked, looking at Maria's shoulder.

Now that she thought about it, the initials that were on her own shoulder would very well be Maria's. On Eliza's left shoulder, a small M.L. had shown up when she had turned 18.

In that moment, she wondered what Maria's last name was. She couldn't be Maria's soulmate, the would be too easy. Most people didn't find their soulmates until they were at least thirty, but here Eliza was, 22 and wondering if the stunning woman in front of her was her soulmate.

Snapping out of her thoughts when Maria said her name, she slowly asked her if she wanted her usual drink, receiving only a 'Yes, please.' in response. She made the drink quickly, trying to come up with something, anything to say to Maria.

As Eliza handed her the drink, she just said the first thing that popped into her head.

"So, uh... the weather is nice, isn't it?"

Smooth Eliza, real smooth.